Pick something up
Outside your own front door, on the walk you already take. Bring a bag and start whenever you are ready.
Take action
You can start in the next ten minutes
Start on your own, on the walk you already take. Then, if you want, let it grow — at home, on your street, and with your neighbors.
Two easy ways to start
Start small on your own, or connect with your local affiliate when you’re ready to do more.
Get the free toolkit
Keep America Beautiful’s free Great American Cleanup digital toolkit. Fill in the form and we’ll email it to you.
Request the toolkit
Before you go
How do I safely pick up litter?
The health and safety of our volunteers is our #1 priority.
- Use good judgment, and be extra careful along busy roads.
- Don’t pick up litter in the dark, and wear a safety vest.
- Wear gloves with a rubber coating and, if possible, use a litter picker.
- Do not pick up sharps (needles).
- Make sure any cigarette butts you put in your bag are fully extinguished.
- Be careful with any liquids in bottles — it’s always best to leave them closed.
On the walk you already take
Start with the smallest litter
Cigarette butts are small, easy to miss and everywhere. The Keep America Beautiful 2026 National Litter Study counts 3.8 billion of them on our roadways, waterways and coastlines at any given time. Their filters don’t break down.
So on our next walk, we can bring a glove and a second bag just for butts. At home, we keep them apart from the trash. A free shipping label sends them to TerraCycle to be recycled.
At home
Recycle right at home
Recycling right starts with knowing what our local program takes. Is it curbside pickup or drop-off? Which materials does it accept, and how should they be prepared?
Give containers a quick rinse. For plastic bottles, empty the bottle and screw the cap back on. When in doubt, leave it out. And when we bring our own reusable bags, bottles and containers, there is less to recycle in the first place.
Right where you live
Plant something native
Planting can start with a single flower pot. Native plants are adapted to local soil and climate, so they need less watering, mowing and chemical care.
Audubon’s Native Plant Finder and the National Wildlife Federation’s Native Plant Finder show what grows well where we live. Even a few native plantings give wildlife a place to land. When neighbors join in, those small efforts grow.
KAB Volunteers By The Numbers
Last year alone, over 400,000 hard-working volunteers logged more than 2.9 Million volunteer hours over the course of over 60,000 events. What did our combined service to our communities accomplish?
69,689,184 POUNDS
Of litter, debris, and recycling collected
146,647 acres
Cleaned of litter
59,874 MILES
Of streets, roads, and highways cleaned and beautified
7,461 MILES
Of rivers, lakes, wetlands and shores cleaned
31,899 TREES
Planted, helping to restore communities
Ready to do more
Organize a cleanup
Bring a few neighbors together for a cleanup of your own. Our free Litter Cleanup Logistics guide helps with the planning.
Bring your workplace in
Your company may already be hosting a workplace cleanup event! Contact your Human Resources Department to find out if your company is a Keep America Beautiful Partner.
Start an affiliate
Affiliates are local organizations that lead Keep America Beautiful programs in their communities. Starting one is a real organizational commitment. It means an application, affiliate training to become certified, and then running local programs with our framework and support.
Don’t have time to sign up for an upcoming volunteer event, but still want to make a difference? Donate Now
Explore additional resourcesEvery block you clean adds up
Want your cleanup counted in your community’s total? Your local affiliate can log it.